Notizie sopra l’origine ed avanzi della Biblioteca della
Sagra Religione Gerosolimitana:
an unknown work
by Agius de Soldanis
G
iovanni Pietro Francesco Agius de Soldanis has received academic attention as an early pioneer of the study of the Maltese language, a folklorist and a historian. His contribution in those areas have been more or less studied and published upon, this given the fact that a substan-tial portion of his manuscripts together with all his published works are to be found in the National Library of Malta collection.1 Gradually othermanu-script material written by de Soldanis is coming to light, both in Maltese pri-vate collections as well in public and pripri-vate ones on the Continent. De Sol-danis’ literary contacts, especially with Italian and French savants, together with his membership in a number of prestigious academic institutions, are resulting in the tracing of new material. The latter is further enhancing our knowledge of the multi-faceted cultural interests and literary output of one of the foremost Maltese letterati of the eighteenth century.
De Soldanis’ role as the first librarian of what was subsequently to evolve into that nothing less than the Malta National Library is a case in point in this regard. Prior to the discovery of de Soldanis’ Notizie here discussed and reproduced, very little was known about his activity as librarian during the last years of his life, namely between 1763 and 1770. Information on this undoubtedly important cultural contribution has, to date, been limited to de Soldanis’ appointment, in 1763, by de Tencin as librarian for his budding public library and the fact that de Soldanis was responsible for the compila-tion of the early catalogues of the colleccompila-tion.
1. The present study is an update of that published by William Zammit in Olvin Vella (ed.). Journal of Maltese Studies 27: Essays on de Soldanis. Malta, 2010, p. 91-139.
For the most exhaustive, near-contemporary bio-bibliographical account of de Soldanis, cfr. Giovanni Antonio Ciantar. Malta Illustrata. Malta, 1780, vol. II, p. 590-92. For a modern one, cfr. Joseph Cassar Pullicino. Gio Pietro Francesco Agius de Soldanis, 1712-1770:
In the present study the significance of de Soldanis’ Notizie will be di-scussed within the broader context of the development of libraries in Malta during the Order’s rule. The Notizie constitutes the most contemporary and exhaustive primary source relating to the establishment of the Order’s
Bib-liotheca Pubblica, and hence of one of the foremost cultural institutions on
the island during the second half of the eighteenth century. In it de Soldanis, while at times providing facts and documentation already known from other sources, also provides a wealth of new information.
De Soldanis’ account is replete with observations, comments and referen-ces which enrich our knowledge about his intellectual interests and familia-rity with the mainstream European current, not least being the promotion of a sense of national awareness and pride. His references to works of various major and less known scholars confirm de Soldanis’ erudition. The author thus refers to the works of Beyerlinck and d’Alembert and Diderot’s
En-cyclopedie, among many others.2 His interest and familiarity with the then
budding discipline of library sciences is confirmed by his reference to the work of Gabriele Naudè, one of the founders of the discipline.3
De Soldanis’ role as a major figure in promoting Maltese national con-sciousness has been discussed by the present author in another publication. Whether or not that group of Maltese eighteenth-century intellectuals cen-tral among whom was de Soldanis, and who preceded Mikiel Anton Vassalli, constituted a fundamental force in the moulding of Maltese national identity, and if indeed they can be considered as “enlightened”, is at long last being discussed. This certainly fundamental issue in Maltese early modern history has long been overlooked, and the contrasting opinions recently expressed on it have created some healthy debate on Maltese historical issues which goes beyond staple petty parochial or partisan fare.4
The document
The full title of de Soldanis’ account is Notizie sopra l’Origine, ed Avanzi
della Biblioteca della S.R. Gerosolimitana, eretta in Malta al 1761, ed aperta al
2. Lawrence Beyerlinck (1578-1627). Magnum Theatrum Vitae Humanae. Cologne, 1631 (and later editions); Denis Diderot and Jean le Rond d’Alembert. Encyclopédie, ou
Dic-tionnaire Raisonné des Sciences, des Arts et des Métiers. Paris, 1751-1772. For a recent study
of the use of such encyclopaedic works during the period, see Ann Blair. Too Much to Know:
Managing Scholarly Information before the Modern Age. Yale, 2010.
3. Gabriele Naudé. Advis pour Dresser une Bibliothèque. Paris, 1627 (and later editions). 4. Cfr. the contrasting views expressed by Frans Ciappara in various publications, but especially in: Enlightenment and Reform in Malta, 1740-1798. Malta, 2006, and William Zammit. Il Naufragio di San Paolo in Malta osia la Conversione di San Paolo e dell’Isola … A
1766, and it consists of a neatly written manuscript on 15 unmarked folios,
describing the setting up of Bailli Jean-Louis Guerin de Tencin’s (1702-1766) library and its transfer to the Order. The main text is augmented by 38 foot-notes, some of which are of considerable length and contain previously unk-nown material. The text contains few corrections. While de Soldanis’ name does not feature anywhere on the document, there can be no doubt about his authorship. Besides the strong calligraphic evidence in this regard, the con-tent itself makes this quite obvious. Thus de Soldanis refers to his 1757 book on the St Paul shipwreck as his work.5 The document is undated; it was
pos-sibly written during 1767, following the library’s inauguration on the previous year and when de Soldanis had been a librarian for four years. No reference in the work is datable to after 1767, but the work does refer to the publication, early in that year, of Ignazio Saverio Mifsud’s Biblioteca Maltese.6
The autograph copy of the Notizie here discussed is to be found in the Communal Library of Palermo, and no copy of it is known in Malta. Not only is the work not mentioned in modern bibliographies of de Soldanis, but its lack of mention by contemporary eighteenth-century sources makes it likely that it was little known locally even at the time of its writing.7 It seems
that de Soldanis had sent his description to the Accademia del Buon Gusto of Palermo, where it was indeed noted among the Academy’s papers by Giu-seppe Cusimano.8
Early libraries in Malta and abroad
De Soldanis opens his account by referring to the intellectual benefits whi-ch had resulted from the setting up of libraries in the civilised world throu-ghout history. While mentioning various examples since antiquity, he aptly describes the eighteenth century as “the Century of Libraries”, this justified by the hundreds of libraries which were founded and others which were enri-ched during the course of that century and up to his time of writing.9
In discussing the existence of libraries in Malta prior to that set up by de Tencin in 1760, de Soldanis is brief; yet he does provide some information which is either new or else throws further light upon what is already known.
5. Notizie, [f. 3], fn. 10, «Vedi il mio Discorso Apologetico sopra il Naufragio di S. Paolo». 6. Ibid., [f. 3v], fn. 11, «Impressa a Malta al 1764 e pubblicata al 1767». On the vicissi-tudes regarding the printing of this work, cfr. William Zammit. Ignazio Saverio Mifsud,
1722-1773: Commemoration by the Malta Historical Society. Malta, 1997, p. 14, 16.
7. Neither Cassar Pullicino (1996) nor Ciantar (1780) refer to the Notizie in their respec-tive bibliography of de Soldanis manuscript and printed works.
8. Reference kindly supplied by Rosabelle Carabott. 9. Notizie, [f. 1].
The possession of modest book collections in Malta prior to the settle-ment of the Order of St John on the island in 1530 seems to have been limited to some religious Orders, the Cathedral and possibly a few noble families. As in the case of various other cultural aspects, the establishment of the Order – while leaving little initial impact – was to eventually result in important developments, the fruits of which may still be enjoyed today. By 1798, when the illustrious Order was ignominiously expelled from Malta, an impressive and well-managed Biblioteca Pubblica had been set up, eventually to be transformed into the present-day National Library of Malta.
The earliest reference as yet traced regarding the setting up of a library under the auspices of the Order is dated 1555. The Hospitallers’ Chapter General convened in that year under the grandmastership of de la Sengle (1553-1557) had stipulated that a library was to be created from books found in possession of deceased members pertaining to that institution.10 Since it
was inserted within the ecclesiastical stipulations enacted by the Chapter General, this enactment was presumably intended for the benefit of the Order’s conventual chaplains. The assigning of the Order’s library to the responsibility and utilisation of the Order’s ecclesiastical branch was to re-main a characteristic down to the establishment of de Tencin’s library over two centuries later. The means through which books were to be acquired as described in 1555 – namely through the incorporation of works formerly belonging to knights and conventual chaplains who had passed away was, moreover, to remain the standard one down to the expulsion of the Order. De Soldanis makes no reference to the 1555 enactment.
The 1555 enactment was to remain a dead letter and this is borne out not only by the total lack of evidence confirming the actual setting-up of a library, but particularly by the subsequent development in the matter. This took place in 1612 when, during the Chapter General held on that year, the Order’s Grand Prior, Pietro Urrea Camarasa, successfully petitioned for the establishment of a library under the control of the Order’s ecclesiastical branch.11 While not referring to the 1555 document, Camarasa’s petition
seems to have been directly inspired by it. The 1612 decision was this time put into practice since a library under the responsibility of the grand prior is definitely known to have existed by 1636 at the latest.12 De Soldanis, while
not mentioning the first two dates, refers to this last one which really con-stitutes the earliest definite confirmation of the existence of the conventual
10. AOM 288, f. XIIv, under Ecclesia, «Item che si facci una bibliotheca o libraria nella quale se ripongono tuttli li libri delli fratelli defuncti, che pertengono al comune thesoro per commodità delli Religiosi nostri che vorranno studiare.».
11. AOM 295, f. 18.
chaplains’ library.13 Thus, contrary to what is stated in most published works,
neither 1555 nor 1649 (actually 1650) are tenable as the foundation years of the first library belonging to the Order in Malta.14 The library, known as Bib-lioteca di San Giovanni was to remain in existence until 1763.
While not signalling the foundation of the conventual chaplains’ library, the 1650 documentation provides the earliest reasonably detailed informa-tion about it. In a petiinforma-tion addressed to Grand Master Lascaris (1636-1657) and dated 22 March 1650, the procurators of the Assembly of the conven-tual chaplains drew attention to the 1612 rule, stating that for many years the provisions therein established had been followed, thereby confirming the existence of the library prior to 1650. The Order’s officials of the trea-sury had, however, eventually resorted to the practice of selling by auction books inherited from deceased members, while other books were kept in the treasury and not passed over to the assembly for their incorporation in the library. The Assembly thus asked the grand master and council to endorse a number of new regulations aimed at the better running and care of the col-lection. These included the identification of a dust and humidity-free loca-tion in which to house the library and the appointment of a reliable person as custodian. The library was also to be inspected by the grand prior annually and an acquisition register was to be kept. The custodian was, under penalty of excommunication, forbidden to remove any book from the library or to allow others to do so without a receipt and the deposit of at least double the value of the book taken out. In the case of multiple copies, two copies of the same work were to be retained, with any additional copies being sold and the proceeds then used for the purchase of other suitable books which the library did not possess.15 The last rule was also adopted following the
estab-lishment of de Tencin’s Biblioteca Pubblica.
The proposed rules – the earliest known – were formally accepted on 27 March of that year and the hall above the oratory of the conventual church was assigned as the library’s premises. In 1680, the library was, following instructions from Grand Prior Viani, transferred to another hall above the great sacristy of St John’s.16
The vicissitudes of the Biblioteca di San Giovanni down to its suppression in 1763 indicate sporadic attempts at its running with, however, long periods
13. Notizie, [f. 4] main text and fn. 13.
14. De Soldanis. Notizie, [f. 4], fn. 13 gives the date as 22 March 1649, as is actually given in the original decree; however he seems to have overlooked the ab incarnatione marginal note besides the date and which puts the latter as 1650. Antonio Annetto Caruana. The Royal
Public Library of Malta: A Brochure. Malta, 1898, and all subsequent published histories of
the library similarly give 1649 as the year when the library was established. 15. AOM 1987, f. 84r-v.
of neglect. Thus, notwithstanding the regulations drawn up in 1650, by the beginning of the eighteenth century the conventual chaplains’ library was in a bad state. In February 1704 the Assembly complained that the collection had been seriously impoverished due to the great amount of books and man-uscripts which had been taken out on loan but never returned and about which no record had been kept.17 The limit for borrowing was consequently
put at three books or manuscripts which had to be returned within five days of their borrowing under penalty of excommunication. Besides providing in-formation as to the library’s condition, the 1704 reference is the earliest one to specifically confirm the presence of manuscripts in the collection.
A more detailed set of regulations governing the acquisition policy and general administration of the Biblioteca di San Giovanni were put into effect in early 1705 by Grand Master Perellos (1697-1720).18 The primary concern
of the new set of rules was to eliminate ambiguity as to the disposal of books inherited by the Order from its members, while at the same time establishing the library on a sounder footing. The first rule stated that books pertaining to members who had died in debt were to be sold in order for their respective creditors to be given their due. The second confirmed a previous disposition whereby books collections worth over 300 scudi were not to be handed over to the library, but sold by the treasury. The valuation of such collections was to be undertaken by treasury officials together with others appointed by the grand prior. The Hospitallers’ right to dispose of a fifth of their property as they wished was also to be applied in the case of books. The fifth stipulation gave the grand prior and his officials the responsibility to choose suitable chaplains for the running of the library. Books inherited from deceased mem-bers and which were being kept in the treasury were to be handed over and be incorporated in the library. Particularly revealing as to the contents of the library was rule seven which stated that poetical works, novels and comedies were not to form part of the collection, but sold off and the proceeds used to purchase other books deemed more suitable for an ecclesiastical library. Possibly the earliest reference to the censoring of material reaching a library on the island, the rule confirms that the collection was primarily intended for its utilisation by the conventual chaplains. Knights were, however, also allowed to borrow books, while Maltese who were not conventual chaplains do not seem to have been allowed access. Finally, rule eight stipulated that duplicate copies of books found in inherited collections were to be sold by the treasury, which was also to retain the proceeds from such sales.
17. AOM 1939, ff. 26v-27, «si vede al presente ridotta ad un stato miserabile per essersi da quella [biblioteca] levata quantità grande di libri in pregiudizio della communità…».
The extent and regularity of the observance of the latter regulations down to the dissolution of the library cannot be ascertained. By 1760 the library seems to have once again fallen into a state of neglect. On 15 November of that year, that is just five days prior to de Tencin’s purchase of the Portocarre-ro library fPortocarre-rom the treasury, the latter requested the librarian, Fra Giovanni Battista Gras, to draw up an inventory of the books in the chaplains’ li-brary.19 Shortly after starting his work in 1763, however, Gras realised that it
was going to be a futile exercise since most of the collection, amounting to close to three thousand volumes, was ravaged by bookworm. The books had apparently been housed in a large bookcase for many years and in a state of utmost disorder. Gras therefore advised the treasury that the best course of action was to try to salvage those books which had not been completely ru-ined. Pilfering and the non return of books given out on loan had continued to take their toll on the collection.20
On 20 September 1763, three days after Gras’ recommendations, the trea-sury ordered that the books still in a good state were to be incorporated with the library to be set by de Tencin. As for the rest, as well as for duplicates, they were to be sold and the proceeds passed on to the newly-established library.21 The sale took place on the premises itself and raised 450 scudi.22
The demise of the Biblioteca di San Giovanni was thus intimately tied up with one of the greatest cultural achievements in eighteenth-century Malta: the foundation of the Biblioteca Tanseana, later to be transformed into the island’s first real public library.
The information given by de Soldanis on the library set up by Grand Prior and subsequently Bishop of Malta Fra Luca Buenos (1649-1666 and 1666-1668 respectively) is particularly important since this development is sparsely documented elsewhere. The library was set up in the grand prior’s palace and consisted of a small but precious collection. This library was aug-mented by Buenos’ successor as Grand Prior, Fra Pietro Viani (1666-1700). De Soldanis transcribed the inscription which was set up to commemorate the establishment of the library. The collection may have been incorporated with the Biblioteca di San Giovanni when Viani had the latter transferred in 1680. Neither de Soldanis nor other sources, however, state that this collec-tion was incorporated within the Biblioteca Pubblica and its eventual fate is not clear.23
19. Notizie, [f. 4], reproducing the document. 20. Ibid, [f. 4r-v], reproducing the document. 21. Ibid, [f. 4v], reproducing the document. 22. Ibid., fn. 14.
23. Notizie, [f. 5r-v]. The grand prior’s palace faced St John’s church. The palace was completely destroyed during an air raid in April, 1941.
The setting up of the Biblioteca Pubblica
Cardinal Joaquín de Portocarrero (1681-1760) and the Bailli de Tencin, both members of the Order with an illustrious career were instrumental in the founding of the Biblioteca Pubblica in 1760. The initiative taken by de Tencin was characteristic of the period and constitutes further evidence of European cultural influence reaching the cosmopolitan island.
Hailing from a wealthy and distinguished Iberian noble family, Joaquín de Portocarrero was admitted within the ranks of the Order in 1716.24
Mar-quis of Almenara and occupying various posts of importance, Portocarrero was, in 1743, created Cardinal by Benedict XIV. Cardinal Portocarrero had amassed an extensive and valuable library as well as a collection of scienti-fic and mathematical instruments together with a numismatic collection in his Roman residence. In 1748 the cardinal donated his coin collection to Benedict XIV. Portocarrero’s life-long attachment to the Order, even if not resident on the island, was reflected, among other, in his successful insistence to wear the Order’s eight-pointed cross on his cardinal mozzetta.25 He also
financed the founding of a commandery for the Order in Rome.
Portocarrero had at least twice entertained the idea of donating his book collection to the Order for the setting up of a library during his lifetime and this is confirmed by contemporary documentation. Just a few days following the accession of Grand Master Pinto to the magistracy in January 1741, Ignazio Saverio Mifsud recorded the rumour that Portocarrero intended to donate his book collection, valued at the time at 40,000 scudi, to the grand master. The latter had, on his part, expressed his desire to have the Order’s armoury transferred from the magistral palace to the foundry premises so that the palace armoury could be transformed into a library housing Porto-carrero’s donation and make the collection accessible to the public. Monthly literary soirées were to be held in the library, with the involvement of the Maltese Carmelite Giuseppe Cachia.26 For unknown reasons, however, the
24. For a recent, detailed biography of Portocarrero, cfr. Robert L. Dauber. Bailiff Frá
Joaquin de Portocarrero: Co-Founder of the Library of Malta. Malta, 2003.
25. Ibid., p. 112. See also Lettera della Santità di Nostro Signore Papa Benedetto XIV con
cui si determina doversi portare dall’Eminentissimo, e Reverendissimo Signor Cardinal Porto-carrero… la Gran Croce Ottogona di tela bianca sopra la mozzetta Cardinalizia. Rome, 1745.
26. NLM Libr. 9, Ignazio Saverio Mifsud’s diary, p. 414, dated 4 February 1741, «nel medesimo giorno si disse che il Baglio Almenara diede in dono al nostro Gran Maestro una libraria di quaranta mila scudi. E così il Gran Maestro vuol levare dal Palazzo l’armeria, e farla nella fonderia, e la fonderia la fà nella Floriana; ed in luogo dell’armeria nel Palazzo vuol mettere la libraria ad uso commune d’ogni sorte di libri di legge, morali, medicina, antichità &c e particolarmente poesie: purche ogni mese si dovranno fare l’accademie, ed il Prencipe dell’Accademia s’elesse il P. Giuseppe Cachia Carmelitano. Ancora però non si vede niente: Iddio facci, che sia tutto vero.» Mifsud was just nineteen years old in 1741.
donation did not materialise at that time. The project was again taken in hand on the initiative of Portocarrero around 1760, when the cardinal infor-med de Tencin, with whom he became acquainted during the latter’s term as the Order’s ambassador in Rome, of his intention to donate his library to the Order for the use of its members, the Maltese and other inhabitants of the island. Besides donating the collection itself, Portocarrero intended to create a foundation for the payment of the salaries for the library personnel as well as for the purchase of additional books. The project had received the blessing of the Order and details seem to have been worked out, but it had not been formalised on Portocarrero’s death which occurred in Rome on 22 June 1760.27
While not specifically referring to his collections, Portocarrero had, besi-des the payment of minor pensions to members of his household, appointed the Order’s treasury as his universal heir. Thus the cardinal had dispensed with the right of leaving a fifth of his estate to individuals of his choice, fa-cilitating the Order’s takeover of practically his entire property. News of the cardinal’s death reached Malta in mid-July and Pinto sent instructions for an elaborate funerary service and a mausoleum in memory of the deceased benefactor.28 A catalogue describing the cardinal’s library and collection of
instruments was also compiled, listing the value of each book and was sent to the Order’s treasury in Malta. It is however known that prior to the com-piling of the catalogue, books from the deceased cardinal’s collection had already found their way to third parties.29
The Bailli de Tencin, one of the wealthiest and most cultured members of the Order and who was himself the proud owner of an impressive library now entered the scene.30 He had actually already played a major role in the
nego-tiations for the donation of Portocarrero’s library to the Order during the cardinal’s own lifetime and now sought to prevent the selling of the book col-lection and to have it brought over to Malta and made available to the public, respecting the deceased cardinal’s intention. The contract for the purchase of the library, together comprising the bookcases and the scientific instrument
27. Notizie, [ff. 5v-7]. De Soldanis gives extensive biographical notes on both Portocar-rero and de Tencin, cfr. ibid., [ff. 6-7v], fn. 20 and 21 respectively.
28. NLM Libr. 13, p. 300, I.S. Mifsud’s diary, entry dated 14 July 1760. For a copy of Portocarrero’s testament see AOM 930, p. 206-10.
29. AOM 1516, f. 127, Pinto to Ambassador Breteuil, dated 16 July 1760. ASV, SS 138, f. 200, Inquisitor Zondadari to Secretariat of State, dated 19 January 1778. NLM Libr. MS 264 consists of the catalogue of Portocarrero’s library and instrument collections.
30. For a published biography of de Tencin, cfr. also Edward R. Leopardi. Fra Louis
Guerin de Tencin, Founder of the first Public Library in Malta. «Revue de l’Ordre Souverain
collection was signed on 25 October 1760.31 In its preamble de Tencin stated
that his aim in acquiring the Portocarrero library as described in the catalo-gue held by the treasury was to set up a public library in the Order’s convent. The contract consisted of four clauses. Firstly, the treasury was obliged to transport over to Malta the books and book cases which were, together with the cardinal’s instrument collection, to be handed over to de Tencin. Secon-dly, de Tencin was to pay the treasury the sum of 7,000 Maltese copper scudi, divided equally in sums of 1,000 scudi and which were to be paid at the start of every year from 1 January 1762. In the case of de Tencin’s death occurring before the full settlement of that sum – as in fact happened – the purchaser’s estate was not to be burdened with the remaining debt. The third clause sti-pulated that while de Tencin was to be handed over the collection for his use during his lifetime, all the books listed in the Portocarrero catalogue were to remain the property of the Order, being, by virtue of the same contract, immediately donated back to the Order by their purchaser. The implicit justi-fication of this clause seems to have been twofold: the fact that de Tencin had “bought” the collection at a price far lower than its real value as given in the catalogue and also that it had been de Tencin’s intention all along to develop the collection into a public library to be handed back to the Order following his demise. The fourth and final clause confirmed the Order’s possession of the collection by stating that any books found missing following de Tencin’s death were to be paid for from his estate in the amount listed in the catalogue. The contract was confirmed on 20 November of that same year, by which time the books and bookcases had not yet reached the island.
By mid-May 1761 the Portocarrero library had reached Malta and was housed in a building facing Piazza dei Cavalieri (now Republic Square).32
This edifice belonged to the Order and was known as il Forfantone since it was previously utilised for the playing of cards. De Soldanis quips on the word carte by remarking that whereas the building used to accommodate
card players, now it fulfilled the nobler function as a place where paper, in the form of books, are read.33 De Tencin rented the premises from the
Or-der and proceeded to make the necessary alterations to transform it into a library.34 The Forfantone – a decayed and unsuitable structure by the 1790s
– continued to house the library until its transfer to the purposely-built edi-fice in 1812. De Tencin appointed de Soldanis as librarian,35 and by August
31. Copy in AOM 767, ff. 132v-35; Notizie, f. [9r-v].
32. NLM Libr. 13, p. 538, I.S. Mifsud’s diary, entry dated 14 May 1761. 33. Notizie, [f. 10], fn. 28.
34. Notizie, [ff. 9v-10].
35. NLM Libr. 14, p. 99, I.S. Mifsud’s diary, entry dated 20 June 1763. De Soldanis him-self does not refer to his own appointment.
1763 the latter was busy compiling alphabetical catalogues of the collection by author as well as by subject.36 De Soldanis describes his catalogues in
quite some detail, well enough to confirm that his catalogues still exist in the National Library of Malta Library manuscript collection.37 De Tencin’s
own book collection was added to the library38 and further additions and
donations resulted in the collection swelling up to 18,000 volumes in various languages by the late 1760s.39 Besides published works the library also
in-cluded a collection of manuscripts, many of which were formerly part of the Portocarrero and de Tencin collections.
A document of central importance which is reproduced by de Soldanis and of which neither the original nor any other copy is known is that gran-ting the newly-established library the required permission to retain prohibi-ted books in its collection. This had been requesprohibi-ted by de Tencin and the Congregation of the Holy Office granted de Tencin’s request on 18 Novem-ber 1761. This finally explains the rather puzzling presence of a considerable corpus of prohibited literature in the library at a time when controls over locally printed or imported matter was still exercised.40
De Tencin died on 10 June 1766 and as stipulated in the contract of Oc-tober 1760, the library reverted to the possession of the Order’s treasury. In November of that year the treasury appointed Fra Jean Baptiste de Valabres as Commissioner to the library,41 while de Soldanis proceeded with his work
until ill-health forced him to retire. He was succeeded by Gioacchino Na-varro who was to serve as librarian under the Order’s, the French and the British administrations in succession.
The next important development took place in 1776 when the Order’s Chapter General convened during that year established the library on a fir-mer footing. On 26 November 1776 detailed regulations were issued gover-ning the rungover-ning of what, from that date onwards, was officially designated as the Order’s Pubblica Biblioteca. Books formerly belonging to deceased members of the Order were to be passed over to the library to be added to
36. Ibid., p. 156-57, entry dated 11 August 1763.
37. Notizie, [ff. 14r-v]. Thus the present NLM Libr. MSS. 603 (2 volumes), 605 (6 vol-umes) and 606 (1 volume) correspond to de Soldanis’ author, subject and alphabetical sub-ject catalogues as described in the Notizie.
38. NLM Libr. 265 consists of a catalogue of de Tencin’s own collection. 39. Notizie, [f. 12].
40. Notizie, [f. 10r-v]. For a detailed study on the exercise of censorship in Malta through-out the eighteenth century, cfr. William Zammit. The Dissemination of Unorthodoxy and New
Ideas in Malta, 1700-1798. Unpublished Ph.D. thesis, Department of History, University of
Malta, 2001.
the collection or – in the case of duplicates – to be sold off and the proceeds used for the library’s benefit.42
The precarious state of the Forfantone as well as the expansion of the library’s book stock induced the Order to embark upon the construction of the first purposely-built edifice to house a library on the island. In 1784 the Polish-born architect Stefano Ittar was commissioned to design a new library, which was completed in 1796, six years after Ittar’s death. The buil-ding, however, was not to be utilised for the purpose for which it was con-structed until 1812 when the transfer of the library finally took place.43
Expanding the collection: 1760-1798
From its inception in 1760 down to the expulsion of the Order of St John from the Maltese islands in June 1798, the Biblioteca Pubblica’s collection relied upon four means through which its collection was augmented. Entire book collections formerly belonging to other institutions in Malta or abroad continued to be acquired and amalgamated with the library’s own collection throughout the period. Donations from foreigners, from members of the Order and from Maltese individuals constituted a further way in which the library was enriched. The 1776 stipulation whereby books reaching the Or-der following the death of its members had to be passed over to the
Biblio-teca seems to have been scrupulously adhered to, resulting in a vast amount
of books to be added to the collection. Duplicate copies resulting from any of the above means of acquisition were then sold, with the resulting funds being utilised for the purchase of other works.
The library’s original core collection itself was made up of the amalga-mation of the Portocarrero and de Tencin libraries, to which the salvage-able books from the Biblioteca di San Giovanni were added. A number of other collections were gradually passed over to the library. Thus, in 1772 the Camerata library was transferred to the public library. The Camerata had been originally intended as a house of retreat for members of the Order and by 1772 its library contained hundreds of books as well as a collection of manuscripts. The Camerata collection itself comprised libraries which had been donated by members of the Order during the previous years. These included the collections donated by Bailli de Beveren, Bailli Chiurlia and Knight Commander Cavaniglia. Detailed inventories of these collections
42. AOM 309, ff. 102-03v; 312; AOM 312, ff. 375-77v.
43. Cfr. Edward Sammut. A Note on Stefano and Sebastiano Ittar, in Proceedings of His-tory Week 1982. Edited by Mario Buhagiar. Malta, 1983, p. 20-27.
were handed over to the public library together with the books themselves. During the following year duplicates and incomplete works were sold off and the proceeds used to buy other material which the public library did not possess.44 A major addition was the library of the suppressed Order of St
Anthony of Vienne which was acquired by the Order of St John and assimi-lated in the public library in 1781. Through this acquisition the library came into possession of one of its most outstanding treasures: the fifteenth-century illuminated manuscript describing the life of St Anthony the Abbot.45 The
manuscript is dated 14April 1426 and is numbered first in the library’s col-lection of manuscript codices.
One of the last collections to be merged with that of the public library was that housed at the Order’s hospital or Sacra Infermeria. In 1682 Fra Giusep-pe Zammit had donated his library – consisting mostly but not exclusively of medical works – to the hospital. In 1797 the remnants of this collection were transferred to the public library. Such works include extremely rare and at ti-mes unique publications which can be identified as having belonged to Zam-mit through the manuscript ex-libris F. Joseph ZaZam-mit dedit et donat inscribed on the work. One outstanding work thus acquired and still forming part of the collection is Emanuele Arias e Porres’ Problemi Geometrici, consisting of exercises in military geometry and stating to have been printed in Malta. The book, of which only one copy is known, is undated, but internal evidence points to its printing during the 1650s.
Besides the amalgamation of entire collection, the Biblioteca Pubblica was also enriched through bequests by a number of individuals. Among the earliest of these donation was that of Louis XV of France who, in 1761, ordered that a copy of every publication printed in the royal printing press was to be sent over to the Order’s library in Malta in perpetuity.46 A
num-ber of Maltese letterati are also known to have donated books or money to the library, either during their lifetime or through testamentary stipulations. De Soldanis himself is known to have left his manuscripts to the library as apparently did Ignazio Saverio Mifsud. Both de Soldanis’ and Mifsud’s ma-nuscripts are extremely important, particularly for the island’s linguistic and social history. Among the former are de Soldanis’ manuscript dictionary of
Maltese and his history of his native Gozo. Mifsud’s collection of twenty-four mostly manuscript volumes and known as Stromata contain an inexhaustible wealth of information about social life in eighteenth-century Malta, not least contained in his manuscript diary covering the years 1740 to June 1741 and
44. For these inventories see NLM Libr. 266.
45. Cf. Albert E. Abela. The Picture Book of St Anthony the Abbot. «Treasures of Malta»,
II, 1, Malta, 1995, p. 9-14. 46. Notizie, [ff. 11v-12].
from January 1753 to December 1765.47 Of a different nature was the
dona-tion made by the Maltese conventual chaplain Fra Gaetano Bruno. In 1782 Bruno donated the very considerable sum of 10,000 scudi to the library. The money was to be invested and the accruing interest was to be used for the purchase of books.48
The most regular means through which the library book stock was incre-ased, however, was the acquisition of works following the death of members of the Order. Whether substantial or modest, housed on the island or else on the continent, collections formerly pertaining to members of the Order were transported to the Biblioteca where they were examined and incorporated in the main collection. One of the more substantial collection to be thus acquired consisted of the library of Knight Commander Sainte-Jay following his death in 1765. Sainte-Jay had indeed expressed his desire to donate his extensive collection to the public library during his lifetime but this never materialised due to technical difficulties. Sainte-Jay’s collection was well-k-nown on the island and it comprised both printed and manuscript works.49
On his death in 1779, Knight Commander du Guaste, himself a former pre-sident of the library, left eight hundred volumes of modern works to the library. Another substantial acquisition was that following the death of Bailli de Breteuil, the collection of whom had to be shipped from France to Malta.
Recent research undertaken on the National Library of Malta collection has revealed yet another intriguing fact about the collection: the impressive number of editions of works by British authors which were acquired by the library during the eighteenth century. Often consisting of translations into French or Italian but also of first editions in English, the presence of such material indicates familiarity with literary, philosophical and scientific British works by members of the Order. Particularly valuable is a collection of first edition copies of John Locke’s A Letter Concerning Toleration, first publi-shed in London in 1689.50
The auctioning of duplicates and other material deemed unsuitable is known to have been held on a regular basis on the library premises and they constituted a major means through which books were disseminated on the 47. On de Soldanis’ collection of manuscripts in the National Library of Malta, cfr. Jo-seph Cassar Pullicino. Gio Pietro Francesco Agius de Soldanis, 1712-1770, cit.; on Mifsud’s, William Zammit. Ignazio Saverio Mifsud, cit.
48. On Bruno cfr. Joe M. Wismayer. A Miscellanea of Historical Records. Malta, 2003, p. 137-43.
49. Notizie, [f. 8r-v] and fn. 25. Cfr. also Carmen Depasquale. Joseph de Fassion de
Sainte-Jay, Chevalier de Malte: Le Commandeur dans sa Famille. Malta, 2005.
50. Cfr. William Zammit. English-Language books in Malta during the Knights’ time; Part
II: British-authored publications in the Order’s Biblioteca Pubblica, 1760-1798. «Treasures of
island. Moreover it provided the required funds to purchase additional wor-ks and at times to pay for general library expenses. On 6 November 1766, following the death of de Tencin the procurators of the Order’s treasury established the system whereby such material was made available for sale to the public.51 De Soldanis provides considerable detail on how the system
functioned. The selling of such material was held every Saturday. Slips of pa-per indicated the title, format, price and shelf location of every book for sale. Any individual interested in the book could ask to examine it and decide whether to purchase it or not.52
The book sale system remained in force until the end of the Order’s rule in 1798. Particularly impressive were the auctions held in 1786 of books from the Breteuil estate and, in 1790, of material belonging to various dece-ased French knights which had similarly been brought over to Malta. Such sales were well attended and the possibility of acquiring rare material provi-ded a primary motivation for participation.53
The library was open to the public between 8am and 11am and between 2pm (3pm in Summer) and 5pm throughout the year. Friday was a holiday and Saturday was reserved for the sale of books. On days when the library was going to be kept close, a notice with the word Vacat was affixed at the stairway.54
Library and Museum: 1760-1903
As with many state-owned libraries founded in various European coun-tries during the eighteenth century, such libraries originally also fulfilled the purpose of repositories of ancient remains, objects of interest from a natural history perspective and sometimes of specialised collections related to any branch of learning. These often embryonic artefact collections – as in the Maltese case – were to provide the core around which the nation’s museum collection would eventually form, subsequently to be separated from the li-brary and become a prime national cultural institution in its own right.
From its initial establishment, de Tencin’s library also housed a collection of this nature. Besides his book collection, Cardinal Portocarrero also ow-ned an impressive collection of scientific and mathematical instruments. This collection seems to have been housed in the cardinal’s library itself and,
51. Notizie, [ff. 12v-13v] reproducing the document. 52. Notizie, [f. 13v], fn. 35.
53. William Zammit. The Dissemination of Unorthodoxy and New Ideas in Malta,
1700-1798, cit., p. 140.
upon his demise, it was catalogued together with the books. It comprised an impressive variety of instruments, mostly developed during the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. These included an array of compasses, microsco-pes, spirit levels, measuring instruments, Newtonian telescomicrosco-pes, a variety of solar clocks as well as an armillary sphere, a pneumatic machine and a small optical camera. It is moreover highly probable that at least a number of pie-ces in the collection consisted of antique items, while others are described as being made of silver and hence likely to have been of interest from an artistic viewpoint.55
The pneumatic machine or vacuum pump was possibly the largest and most impressive instrument in the collection. Pneumatic machines consi-sted of rather large and elaborate air pumps. Developed from the second half of the seventeenth century onwards, these were fitted with one or two crank-operated cylinders, a rod, or gear and rack work system and topped with a sealed glass container or bell-jar into which a ringing bell was placed. The air was removed from the glass sphere, thus demonstrating the elimina-tion of sound in a vacuum. Small animals were sometimes placed under the pump bell-jar and their death by asphyxia demonstrated the effects of lack of air. Alternatively the glass sphere was substituted by a metal container into which air was pumped, demonstrating the effects of higher than normal air pressure. The Portocarrero pneumatic machine seems to have been quite sophisticated since it comprised no less than crystal glass bells, two glass domes and another container made of brass. The reference to a “small opti-cal camera” refers to a portable camera obscura. This consisted of a box-like sketching instrument. A lens in the drawtube and a mirror at 45 degrees to a horizontal focussed the image onto a ground glass screen on the top of the box. A piece of paper was put onto screen and the image was copied directly.
Portocarrero’s instrument collection was not only housed in the
For-fantone with the library itself but, as in the case of the book stock, it was
expanded through the acquisition of other instruments formerly pertaining to deceased members of the Order. Following the death, on 11November 1766, of Bailli Jacques Armand de Vachon Belmont, the latter’s collection of scientific instruments was integrated with that of the library. By the 1770s, the instrument collection had expanded considerably, with one particularly interesting item consisting of a map depicting the surface of the moon.
Besides the mathematical and scientific instruments collection, the Or-der’s Biblioteca Pubblica also gradually built up a collection of artefacts of an archaeological interest, together with fossils and other items pertaining to 55. For a detailed study of the Portocarrero instrument collection cfr. William Zammit. A
Treasure Lost: The Portocarrero collection of scientific instruments and interest in the sciences in Hospitaller Malta. «Symposia Melitensia», 2, Malta, 2005, p. 1-20.
natural history. This budding collection of antiquities mostly found on the Maltese islands owed much to de Soldanis’ initiative. It is in fact known that a number of the artefacts acquired by the library were originally owned by de Soldanis. Other items were acquired through donations by others. It is in fact known that a number of the artefacts acquired by the library were ori-ginally owned by de Soldanis. Material from de Soldanis’ own considerable collection was described and illustrated in Gabriele Lancillotto Castello, Prince of Torremuzza’s monumental work about ancient inscriptions found in Sicily and in nearby islands. Much of this material ended up as part of the library’s collection of antiquities.56
New information has emerged regarding Giovanni Francesco Abela’s col-lection of Maltese archaeological remains and its acquisition by the Order. Up to now it has always been held that Abela’s collection had been taken over by the Order following the expulsion of the Jesuits from the island, to whom Abela had bequeathed his collection by testamentary disposition.57
New documentary evidence, however, confirms the Order’s interest in ac-quiring Abela’s collection for the Biblioteca Pubblica prior to the suppression of the Jesuit presence on the island which took place on 22 April 1768. In a letter sent by Inquisitor Mancinforte to the Papal Secretary of State dated 25 January of that same year, the inquisitor wrote that
The Grand Master has expressed his desire through one of his auditors, the law-yer Gatt, to acquire the small museum of antiquities pertaining to Commenda-tore Abela, consisting of artefacts excavated on the island. The Grand Master’s intention is to add this collection to the other artefacts already housed in the pub-lic library. This desire was communicated to the Rector [of the Jesuits] who, in an attempt to gain the Grand Master’s goodwill at such a critical moment as the present one, has offered to hand over the collection by way of a gift. This gesture was accepted by the Grand Master and the customary procedure is underway for the handing over of the collection.58
This not only indicates that Abela’s collection was actually acquired befo-re the expulsion of the Jesuit Order from Malta, but mobefo-reover that a nucleus
56. Siciliae et obiacentium insularum veterum inscriptionum ... first edition published in 1769; second edition in 1784, both in Palermo. Torremuzza (1727-1794) hailed from an illu-strious Sicilian noble family, many members of which (including Gabriele Lancillotto him-self) were members of the Order. The Malta material featured in Torremuzza’s publication was referred to and shown in a lecture held at the National Library of Malta in June 2012. The present author is currently working on the publication of a study of the Malta material featured in Torremuzza’s work.
57. For a detailed study of Abela’s donation to the Jesuits see Anthony Bonanno.
Giovan-ni Francesco Abela’s Legacy to the Jesuit College. «Proceedings of History Week 1983», Malta,
1984, p. 27-37.
collection of antiquities already existed in the public library prior to January 1768, formed on the initiative of de Soldanis. By 1772 Abela’s collection se-ems to have been at least in part transferred to the library.59
The stipulations enacted by the Order’s Chapter General in 1776 regar-ding the books pertaining to deceased members of the Order were also to be made applicable to scientific and mathematical instruments as well as to antiquities and Natural History specimens. These were hence to be passed over to the library’s museum collection:
The library is moreover enriched by a developing Museum, where various math-ematical instruments, antiquities and other objects pertaining to Natural History are conserved for the benefit of those interested in such things. Upon such and similar objects, however, no regulations have been enacted as yet. It is thus ad-visable that the same stipulation regarding books is applied to such objects when found in possession of deceased members of the Order, whose estate is not bur-dened with debts. Such objects, while of little value for the Treasury, would, on the contrary, prove very useful and enriching to the public library.60
It seems that by 1812, when the library collection was finally transferred to the purposely-built edifice, the last public building erected by the Order on the island, the library’s museum collection had been decimated. No ref-erence to the collection of instruments is made anymore, while a number of medals in the collection are known to have been sold during the Blockade of Valletta by the Maltese insurgents against the French between September 1798 and September 1800. Following more settled times after 1800, howev-er, the library’s museum collection was enlarged. This took place either as a result of private donations, as was that by Gerolamo Ratto in 1808 and con-sisting of stuffed animals or by having items scattered in public buildings, such as the Palace, transferred to the library.61 Throughout the nineteenth
century the library continued to fulfil the function of a museum, with the collection being augmented over the years. Various visitors also referred to the collection in their published descriptions of their ramblings around the island. The Malta Penny Magazine of 6 June 1840 referred to the collection in the following manner:
59. Ciantar, 70, «In una di queste [library rooms] si va formando un Museo; al quale si sono aggiunte le anticaglie rimase nel Museo del casino di S. Giacomo, lasciato del nostro Comm. Abela a’ PP. Gesuiti.».
60. AOM 312, f. 376v.
In the Public Library is kept a small collection of antiquities and curiosities, found at various times in this island and at Gozo, together with a few birds, a wolf, a wild cat and a snake, all stuffed.62
In 1871 the librarian, Cesare Vassallo, published a description of the library’s museum collection. Another, shorter description was published by Antonio Annetto Caruana in 1898.63 It was only in 1903 when, on
the initiative of Themistocles Zammit, a separate museum was for the first time established and the Public Library collection was described, numbered and transferred to the museum premises at Palazzo Xara in Valletta.64
62. Malta Penny Magazine, issue 39, 6 June 1840.
63. Cesare Vassallo. Guida al museo, ovvero i monumenti di antichità Maltesi conservati
nel museo della Pubblica Biblioteca di Malta. Malta, 1871; Antonio Annetto Caruana. The Royal Public Library of Malta, cit., p. 14-15.
Appendix
Notizie sopra l’Origine ed Avanzi della Biblioteca della Sagra
Reli-gione Gerosolimitana, eretta in Malta al 1761, ed aperta al 1766
Vantasi il mondo Letterario, che quasi ne’ primi suoi secoli, vi furono alzate in piu luoghi Biblioteche, e sempre da Monarchi doviziosi e dotti, o’ da altri Personaggi celebri, poscia ne tempi a’ noi vicini, avanzate le scienze, e negli uomini l’amore del loro acquisto, andarono vieppiu crescendo, in maniera, che grandi o’ picciole raccolte di buoni libri, di codici, ed altri manoscritti ovunque passavasi si osservavano, e ridotte in poco Librerie; Siamo alla fine arrivati ad un secolo, che può chiamarsi Secolo delle Biblioteche, poiche possiamo nume-rare centinaja di nuove Biblioteche, e tutte con fondazioni opulenti stabilite in questo secolo, le quali in ogni tempo renderanno glorioso il nome de Promotori e Fondatori; il numero di queste Biblioteche sono quasi tutte raccolte dal Beyer-linck,65 dall’autori dell’Enciclopedia Francese,66 e da altri chiarissimi soggetti,67
sebbene la miglior parte delle [f. 1v] antiche ed acclamate Biblioteche, arrichite tanto de’ libri stampati o’ manoscritti non ci rimane che la di loro dolorosa ri-membranza, o’ disfatte, o dall’invidioso tempo, o dal rapace fuoco consummate, ed incenerite.
Vive ancora quella memoria della Biblioteca, che una volta alzovvi il Re d’E-gitto Osimande, il quale al suo frontespizio fece scrivere in lettere greche ψυχής ίατοείου vale à dire = Animi medica officina = o secondo il chiarissimo P. Zacca-ria68 = Officina animorum medica = e nell’Enciclopedia Francese = Le Thresor
des remedes de l’Ame69 =, perche i libri tramandano soavemente all’animo un
65. Magnum Theatrum Vitae humanae, v. Bibliotheca. 66. Enciclopedie ou Dictionnaire raisonnè, v. Bibliotêque.
67. Il chiarissimo Signor Canonico Teologo Domenico Schiavo nel Ragionamento da lui recitato nella Sala Senatoria di Palermo per la erezione della publica Libraria alla pag. 11 pensò di raccorre un ben distinto Catalogo delle Biblioteche d’Italia, quelle della Sicilia e particolarmente quelle di Palermo. Conosco quanto sia capace di simile intrapresa questo Signor Canonico Schiavo, già autore di molte opere dotte, spettanti alle glorie della Sicilia, onde giovami lo sperare, che un giorno e presto avremo questa opera per maggior lustro della Sicilia, ed insieme della Repubblica Letteraria.
68. Annali Letterarj d’Italia del 1764 parte 2 pag. 617, dove chiama questa Libraria la più antica di Egitto, e dice che l’iscrizzione ci viene conservata da Diodoro Siciliano L.1.C.49. et alle note soggiunge di averla egli messa sulla Porta della nuova magnifica Libraria Ducale di Modena, poiche ad una Biblioteca con grandiose spese a pubblico bene aperta da un Prenci-pe emulatore de’più generosi Monarchi niuna meglio si convenisse di questa.
ben dolce pascolo, e sono i loro Autori quei Precettori che danno continova lezzione a chiunque desidera acquistare [f. 2] virtù senza mercede e senza voce alta = Hi sunt Magistri, qui nos instruunt sine virgis, et Ferulis, sine cholera, sine pecunia: si accedis non dormiunt, si inquiris, non se abscondunt, non obmur-murant, si oberres; cachinnos nesciunt si ignores70 = et a giusto motivo invaghito
de’ libri l’Imperatore Giuliano alla fronte delle famose sue alzate Biblioteche una in Costantinopoli, in Antiochia l’altra, à vista di tutte, che vi entravano, fece porre il seguente avviso e memoria = Alij quidem Equos amant, alij aves, alij Feras, mihi vero a Puerulo mirandum acquirendi, et possidendi libros insedit desiderium.71 = Un bello ed ammirabile esempio di un Monarca!
Un altra non è bene da intralasciarsi pur ben comprendere quanto possano giovare le Biblioteche, voglio dire di Pico della Mirandola, conosciuto dal Mon-do per Fenice degl’ingegni. Dopo di essersi egli esposto nella età sua giovanile à sostenere, e difendere in un publico Letterario congresso non meno di 900 conclusioni, scorgendo poscia, che varj suoi amici stupidi, e sorpresi oltre modo erano rimasti ad una pruova tanto difficile del di lui elevatissimo talento ed in-gegno, presili per mano con gentilezza, e condottili nella sua nobile Libreria con sincero parlare disse loro = Non vi sorprenda se in me avete ammirato qualche particolare talento: questi libri sono stati i miei Maestri, e all’infaticabile studio sù di essi [f. 2v] fatto devo le scienze tutte, e le letterarie cognizioni, che mai posseggo.72 Ed anche l’esempio del Cardinale Bessariano dev’essere a tutti di
piacere. Egli nella Lettera scritta all’eccelso Senato di Venezia, nella quale gli fa donazione di tutti i suoi pregevolissimi Mss. dice = sono i libri pieni delle voti de’ Savj, pieni degli esempj antichi, pieni di buoni costumi, pieni di legge, e pieni di religione. Essi vivano, conversano, e sono letti con noi, c’insegnava, ci ammoniscono, ci consolano, e ci mettono avanti agli occhi le cose antiche e lontane dalla nostra memoria; e tanta è la potenza loro, tanta la dignità, e tanta finalmente la divinità, che se non fossero i libri, noi saressimo tutti uomini rozzi, ed ignoranti, senza avere alcuna memoria delle cose passate, ne alcuna cognizio-ne delle cose divicognizio-ne, ed umacognizio-ne, ed il medesimo sepolcro, che cuopre i corpi degli uomini, coprirebbe ancora il loro nome. = 73
Malta, Isola adiacente alla Sicilia, sebbene piccola non lascia di avere il suo merito, onde fiorì in tempo de’ Cartaginesi, Greci, e Romani, encomiata per li suoi commodi Porti, per il Cottone, Comino, Rose, Miele, Tele, considerabile per il glorioso naufragio di S. Paolo Apostolo, oggi per [f. 3] il Dominio della Sagra Religione Gerosolimitana,74 la quale divenne antemurale, e sicurezza della
70. Encyclopedie loc. cit. 71. Ibid.
72. Schiavo nel Ragionamento per la erezione della pubblica Libreria, pag. 34. 73. Ibid. pag. 37 e Lettere de Prencipi, Tom. 1. pag. 1.
74. Vedi il mio Discorso Apologetico sopra il Naufragio di S. Paolo Apostolo, contra la dissertazione del Signor Abbate Ladvocat alla pag. 65 e 70, dove sono chiamati varj e molti Autori in questa mia opinione, già prima raccolti dal Padre Girolamo Manduca, e ve ne sono molti altri che [vi:crossed out] hanno fatta lodevol memoria, tra i quali me ne ricordo dell’A-bela, Alexandrino, Abbate Amico, Attardi, Bagnolo, Beckmen, Benvoglienti, Bochart, Bosio, Bulison, Carlo di San Fiorano, Ciantar, Cicerone, Cluverio, Coronelli, Deylingio, Diodoro
Sicilia, e di tutta l’Europa, e terrore della Luna Ottomana. Dacchè questa vi sag-giornò; la virtù e le belle arti coltivate, ed irrigate vi anno fatto il nido; ch’in poco tempo si resero molti letterati in varia specie di scienze, ed arti liberali, onde il Signor Dottore Mifsud, pensando à questo trovò materia bastevole, per formare un opera apparte de’soli Letterati [f. 3v] Maltesi; intitolandola Biblioteca Malte-se,75 e comprende quelli che fiorirano sino al 1650, ed è la prima parte delle tre
che pensa pubblicare.
Introdotta ed entrata che fù la detta Sagra Religione Gerosolimitana in Mal-ta76 sebbene tutta a conservarsi e difendersi dal Turco, inimico dichiarato,
forti-ficandola in tale guisa, che può ben oggi considerarsi Malta essere tutta quanta una sola Fortezza con spese immense, ma ancora che occupata continovamente alla vera disciplina della milizia, alle armi, alle scorrerie, alle guerre, ad aggiu-lare i Prencipi cristiani, e sempre in difesa della Religione Cristiana, tutta fiata pensava parimente allo studio delle scienze, e delle belle arti, onde doppo avere molto pensato, e ripensato s’è risoluto dalla stessa Religione Gerosolimitana di stabilirvi in proprio convento una Biblioteca, per il di cui mezzo, e col commo-do de’ libri avessero i Signori Cavaglieri in che occuparsi ed insieme impararsi dalle penne degli eruditi Scrittori, come diportarsi colla spada nelle guerre, ed altri esercizj militari, e fatto il primo Decreto nella Sedevacante del Gran Mae-stro de Paola [f. 4] ai 3 Giugno 1636,77 fù alzata una copiosa Biblioteca, e posta
sulla sagrestia della Chiesa Conventuale di S. Giovanni78 e durò sino li 20
Set-tembre 1763 con poca fortuna delle opere, locche fece risolvere alla Veneranda Cammera del Commun Tesoro di avere un pieno informo dello stato di questa Biblioteca colla seguente deliberazione79 = Li Venerandi Procuratori del
Com-mun Tesoro, Luogotenente del Gran Commendatore, e Conservatore Conven-tuale = Il Sacerdote Fr. Gio. Battista Gras Bibliotecario deputato per la nostra Biblioteca esistente nella Maggior Chiesa Conventuale di S. Giovanni farà fare un’esatto Inventario di tutti i libri in quella esistenti, e lo rimetterà in Tesoro =
Siculo, Euripide, Fontano, Fratta, Gabriello di San Stefano, Gaetani, Gio. Federico Wanda-lino, Giuseppe Vittorio da San Angelo, Griphio, Gualterio, Guyot, Maffei, Massa, Megise-rio, Menenio, Minutolo, Niderstedio, Paciaudi, Pantaleoni, Pirro, Pivatti, Pozzo, Quintino, Ruperto di San Gaspare, Rosso, Sansovino, Seinero, Silio Italico, Strabone, Torelli, Vertot, Ugolino, Ulloa, Walchio.
75. Impressa in Malta al 1764 e pubblicata al 1767. Le ultime due parti arrivaranno sino al 1750 in 4º che si desiderano, e si aspettano.
76. 26 ottobre 1530.
77. Chi è curioso di essere inteso degli ordini date dal Venerando Consiglio per esser questa Biblioteca perpetualmente stabilita e conservatasi legga i Decreti del medesimo ema-nati li 22 marzo 1649, li 25 maggio 1675 e li 3 marzo 1704.
78. [Propriamente alla Sala Libro Decreti segnato Lettera A c. 30. P: crossed out]. Pro-priamente alla Sala dell’appartamento dell’annuale Predicatore di San Giovanni per l’Avven-to e Quaresima, fornita con armarj e schiaffali, serrati con gradi di fil di ferro. Il Bibliotecario era destinato dal corpo della Veneranda Assemblea, i libri s’imprestavano ai Signori Cava-glieri con impegno sino alla restituzione. Poco à poco mancanti, o perche rubbati, o vermi-nati, poscia tali quali esistevano venduti in subasta nello stesso luogo per scudi quattrocento cinquanta, ed incorporati con questa Biblioteca, della quale vado scrivendo la sua notizia.
dato nella Veneranda Cammera li 15 Novembre 1760.80 Ed avuta poco doppo
la seguente risposta, sulla quale si è presa la deliberazione che si vedrà in fine di detta relazione ch’è la seguente = Illustrissimi Signori, etc. In esecuzione delli venerati comandi delle Signorie Vostre Illustrissime ordinai un esatto Inventario di tutt’i libri esistenti in questa Biblioteca, ma appena principiato m’aviddi, che questo sarebbe riuscito affatto inutile, [f. 4v] giacche per la lunga dimora fatta in un grande Armario confusi, vennero dal tarlo quasi consumati, onde com’il tem-po tem-potrebbe maggiormente danneggiarli, ed il sudetto Inventario riuscirebbe di spesa inutile per la quantità di quasi tre mila volumi, che ve ne sono, perciòche sarebbe bene prendere quelle deliberazioni che stimate adatte per liberarli da un danno maggiore, e conservare quelli, che potrebbero essere di uso, ove saranno destinati dalle Signorie Vostre Illustrissime, ai quali mi sottopongo per ricevere, ed eseguire qualunque deliberazione, che sarà fatta, e nel confermarmi me ne protesto osseq.te = Delle Signorie Vostre Illustrissime = Dalla Biblioteca 18 set-tembre 1763. = Umilissimo, devotissimo, ed obligatissimo Servitore e Religioso = Fr. J. B. Gras = ai Venerandi Procuratori del Commun Tesoro, Luogotenente del Gran Commendatore, e Conservator Conventuale = Considerata la sudetta relazione il Sacerdote Fra Gio. Battista Gras Bibliotecario della nostra Maggior Chiesa Conventuale di San Giovanni consegni tutti i libri dell’enunciata Biblio-teca al Venerando Balì de Tencin commissario da noi a cio deputato, perche ne incorpori quelli che si troveranno in buon stato nella nuova Biblioteca, e tutti gli altri patiti per il tarlo, o dupplicati si vendino a profitto della medesima con dar-ne à suo tempo il corrispondente discarrico in Tesoro, etc. Dato dar-nella Vedar-neranda Cammera li 20 settembre 1763 = Fra Silvio Vincentini Segretario del Tesoro =.
Anche dal Gran Maestro Lascaris stabilito in convento un Maestro Letto-re delle Matematiche ad uso de’ Signori Cavaglieri ed altri abitatori di Malta, perche ognuno avesse il bel commodo d’impararle, incarricato il colleggio della Compagnia di Gesù di por- [f. 5] tare un soggetto abile à tal impiego, e sino da allora fu aperta la Scuola di Matematica,81 ed occupato da valenti soggetti come
dal Padre Atanasio Kirkerio ed altri, ed oggi lodevolmente occupato dal Padre La Maddalene.
Ora avendo fatto vedere come questa Eminentissima Religione Gerosolimi-tana in quest’Isola residente, e dominante pensò ed alzò una Biblioteca ad uso de’ Signori Cavaglieri che la compongono, non pare cosa ben fatta lasciare in oblivione la memoria della Biblioteca, che vi eresse nella propria abitazione il Prior della Chiesa Fr. Luca Bueno,82 Biblioteca piccola sì, ma doviziosa di
pre-80. Ibid. c. 97.
81. Come si vede in atti del fù. magnifico notajo Pietro Vella sotto li 21 Marzo 1635. 82. Bueno in lingua spagnuola vale Buono e tre volte buono fù chiamato in Roma dal Sommo Pontefice, quando erasi portato per consacrarsi Vescovo di Malta, e vale a dire Buo-nissimo. Egli fu eletto Priore della Chiesa al 1649. Poscia Vescovo di Malta al 1662, consa-crato al 1666, già prima consaconsa-crato Arcivescovo Rossanese, e poi in partibus. Morto in Malta al [blank space] e sepolto nella Chiesa di San Giovanni. Vive sin’oggi giorno la fama della bontà, pietà e dottrina di questo Vescovo. Della sua pietà ha dato le pruove nel contagio di Malta del 1675. Brevemente di lui parla il Pozzo nella Storia della Religione di Malta, e Cian-tar De Paulo Apostolo pag. 65.
ziosi libri, passato poscia al Vescovato di Malta venne considerabilmente cre-sciuta dal suo successore [f.5v] Monsignor Priore della Chiesa Fr. Pietro Viani,83
piantata dal Prelato, ma dovuta all’attenzione della Religione Gerosolimitana, et alla somma vigilanza di chi la governava, essendo fabbricata ad uso de’ Geroso-limitani confratelli, come ricavasi da una scrizzione, che già sotto la sua effigie erasi collocata, e da me l’anno 1730 copiata del tenor seguente.
Quisquis in hoc spatio conclusa volumina lustras et Lucae frueris munere, siste gradum.
Aspice, quos animat solers prudentia vultus, haec nativa fuit Praesulis effigies.
Qui ut moriens Fratres etiam post fata doceret Illis scriptorum munera docta dedit.
La bona memoria dell’Eminentissimo Cardinal Portocarrero, già cavaliere professo dell’Ordine di Malta, come sapeva che nel suo convento, non vi era pubblica Biblioteca, vi pensò seriamente a stabilire la sua e lasciarla alla Reli-gione ad uso de Signori Cavalieri, Maltesi, ed abitatori con una epulente fonda-zione perpetua, per [f. 6] essere questa mantenuta e col tempo accresciuta, per mantenere un Bibliotecario ed altri ministri e servienti necessarj al suo bisogno e servigio.84 Communicò il suo progetto al Venerando [f. 6v] Balì de Tencin, da lui
83. Nato della Città d’Aix della Provenza, eletto nella dignità di Priore della Chiesa in età giovanile, scelto come Sacerdote ben degno in concorrenza di altri Sacerdoti Conventuali soggetti anche meritevoli. Zelante per la sua Chiesa Conventuale, communemente chiamato allora vivente il valente sacrestano. In tutto il suo tempo si dimostrò instancabile nel Coro, e vigilante pel suo clero. Il Catalogo de’ libri di questa sua Biblioteca Priorale era scritto dal suo proprio pugno.
84. Questo degno Porporato, mai bastevolmente lodato, nato in Madrid li 2 Aprile 1683 à Malta giunto, ricevuto dalla Religione Gerosolimitana nella Veneranda Lingua di Castiglia e Portogallo in qualita di Cavaliere, fece le sue caravane, poi la sua regolare professione nella chiesa di San Ignazio della Compagnia di Gesù, celebratagli la messa dal sacerdote poi vesco-vo di Malta Alferan. Egli fù conte di Palma, marchese di Montechiaro ed Almenara, divenuto Grande di Spagna, Generale di Cavaleria, Gentiluomo di Camera, ed intimo Consigliere di Stato di Sua Maestà Cesarea, deputato per Vicirè di Sicilia e di Napoli, ma doppo lungo governo, anzi quasi satollo delle più Eminenti e Gloriosi Impieghi, che da il Mondo, quali onoratamente, e gloriosissima amministrò con mille applausi e benedizioni, mutato pensiere fece nuova resoluzione di abbandonare il Mondo ed abbracciare lo stato ecclesiastico, e nello stesso tempo cacciò via la spada e prese il collare, fatto Sacerdote con breve Aposto-lico, senza perdere il grado di Cavaliere di Malta con altre prerogative, come avea fatto il Cardinale Arias, anche cavaliere professo dello stess’Ordine di Malta, divenne Prelato, Pa-triarca, creato poscia Cardinale di Santa Chiesa da Benedetto Papa XIV li 9 settembre 1743, destinato ministro Plenipotenziario del Re delle Spagne nella Corte di Roma, dove visse, e morì l’anno [blank] sempre portava in vita la croce ottogana di tela bianca nel petto, e nel sagrifizio della Messa privata, e cantata mai lasciò la colletta = pro Religione nostra =. Egli fu il primo Cardinale Gran Croce dell’Ordine Gerosolimitano, che sulla mozzetta, e cappama-gna portava la Gran Croce ottogana di tela bianca, e ciò in vigore di una lettera di Benedetto Papa XIV diretta à questo Eminentissimo Cardinale segnata li 13 ottobre 1745. Fondò una Commenda oggi chiamata di Malta in Roma, in Malta di Roma [sic] con capitali, che fruttano scudi annuali maltesi duemila e quattrocento a favore de Signori Cavalieri Gerosolimitani,
